


Prodigy: Mirror Image

by Adrianna99



Series: Prodigies [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orchestra, Clarinetist!Phichit, Jealous Victor, M/M, POV Victor Nikiforov, Prodigy Universe, Violinist!Viktor, Violinist!Yuri, Violist!Yuuri, oblivious yuuri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 13:09:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11783823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrianna99/pseuds/Adrianna99
Summary: A simple change in perspective can alter the whole story.





	Prodigy: Mirror Image

**Author's Note:**

> This is Viktor's POV of Ch. 2 of my multi-chap fic, [Prodigy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11633220/chapters/26162442). It's completely self-indulgent, because I love jealous Viktor. This probably won't make much sense unless you've read Prodigy, but... I can't stop you?
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“Yuri!Yuri!” Viktor cried, clinging to Yuri’s arm as the teenager tried to leave the theater where Katsuki Yuuri had just played his concert.“Wasn’t he so good?”

Yuri sighed, but seemed to have given up on shaking Viktor off.“He was fine,” he muttered.“I could have done better.”

Viktor made a face.“Somehow I doubt that.”

Yuri huffed indignantly.

“I want to meet him, Yuri,” Viktor whispered, and then with a sharp tug dragged Yuri away from the lobby of the concert hall.

Yuri stared incredulously at him.“Don’t be stupid,” he said.

Viktor pouted.He had expected Yuri to be difficult, but usually when Viktor bothered him enough he gave in.

Yuri gave him a disgusted look.“You can’t expect me to come with you,” he said.“If you want to get arrested, fine, but I have better things to do tonight.”

“Please, Yuri,” Viktor begged.He really wanted to meet Katsuki Yuuri in person, find out what he was like, ask him to let Viktor teach him.But he couldn’t leave Yuri to fend for himself either, because Yakov would kill him.Viktor brandished his arm brace.“The last wish of a dying man?”

“You’re not dying, asshole,” Yuri snapped, and then he relented with a dramatic eye roll.“Fine.Have it your way.But if we get caught I’m telling them you kidnapped me.”

Viktor lit up.“Thank you, Yuri!” he exclaimed, and slung an arm around Yuri’s shoulders.

Yuri immediately shrugged him off and pushed him away before stalking off.Viktor quickly followed, practically glowing with excitement.Seeing Yuuri would be the perfect end to the night.The violist had played amazingly well, and Viktor knew he absolutely _had_ to meet him.He followed Yuri into a corridor off to the side, where they were met by a tall, broad man with a scowl.

“No patrons back here,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Hi!” Viktor said cheerfully, stepping in front of Yuri.“My name is Viktor Nikiforov.I’ve played here before.I know we’re not _exactly_ staff, but we wanted to meet Katsuki Yuuri after his concert.I’m sure he would want to talk to us.”He gave he man a winning smile.

The man’s scowl deepened, but he clearly recognized Viktor, because he stepped aside and said, “I didn’t see you, if you get in trouble.”

“Thank you!” Viktor exclaimed, and tugged Yuri down the hall.

“I didn’t think that would work,” the teenager mumbled.“That guy must be an even bigger idiot than you are.”

Viktor just laughed.“So cynical,” he said.“Now, where do you think Yuuri might be?”

Yuri huffed a sigh, but said, “He was a soloist, so they probably gave him a dressing room.Haven’t you played here before?”

Viktor nodded.“Come on,” he said, and then practically dragged Yuri into the bowels of the concert hall.Viktor paused an an intersection, thinking.He had played at that particular venue before, but it had been a while.He had been doing a lot of international performances lately.“I’m not sure which way,” he murmured.

“I’d say left,” Yuri grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child.

Viktor crossed his arms right back.“Why is that?”

In reply, Yuri jerked his chin to the left, and Viktor turned just in time to see Katsuki Yuuri leave one of the dressing rooms and say something to another young man leaning against the wall.The other man replied, and then they both put on jackets before walking in the opposite direction, towards the exit, Yuuri with his viola case in hand and the other man with a bag over his shoulder.  As Viktor watched the other man put an arm around Yuuri.

Viktor managed to unfreeze himself and walked quickly down the hall, Yuri at his heels, grumbling and cursing under his breath.It was probably passed the younger Russian’s bedtime, Viktor reasoned.

When they were within earshot, Viktor called out, “Yuuri!Katsuki Yuuri!”

Yuuri and his friend both paused.The other man murmured something, and Yuuri nodded before they both turned.Viktor immediately gave them a bright smile as he neared, hoping it would be enough to counter Yuri’s scowl.He was struck again by how attractive Yuuri was, his dark hair slicked back, brown eyes wide with recognition, now wearing more casual clothes than his concert attire.Somehow the soft green sweater and blue jeans just made him look more attractive and adorable.Viktor quickly pushed that thought away, before he could blush and embarrass himself.

The man with his arm around Yuuri’s shoulders said something in his ear, and Yuuri leaned against him a little.

“Katsuki Yuuri!” Viktor exclaimed again, hoping he wasn’t completely butchering the Japanese man’s name.“I’m-”

“You’re Viktor Nikiforov,” Yuuri said in a low voice, and then smoothly switched his viola case to his left hand before offering his right.

Viktor shook his hand, impressed with the other’s strong grip.He held on a bit longer than necessary, and then said happily in English, “You’ve heard of me?”

Yuuri nodded, and then asked, “What are _you_ doing here?”

Viktor’s smile flickered a little, hoping Yuuri and his friend wouldn’t report them.Because of course, Yuuri wouldn’t have expected him to be in the back of the concert hall after his performance.He hadn’t even known he was on Yuuri’s radar.“Oh, right!” he said, and then explained.“Well, I guess technically we aren’t authorized personnel, and shouldn’t be back here, but one of the staff members recognized me and let me and Yura through when I said I wanted to talk to you.”

Yuri ambled up, and gave Viktor a swift kick in the ankle.Viktor winced.“Stupid,” Yuri snapped.“He’s asking why you’re at his concert.”

Viktor gave Yuri a bright smile, with an underlying warning.“Yura, be polite,” he said through gritted teeth, and then turned to Yuuri and his friend.“This is-”

“Yuri Plisetsky,” Yuuri said with a nod, eyeing Yuri curiously.

“Yeah,” Yuri drawled suspiciously.

“Hi,” Yuuri’s friend said pointedly, giving a little wave.

“Oh, right,” Yuuri said, giving his friend a small, unconscious smile.He cleared his throat, and then said, “Um, this is my friend Phichit Chulanont.”

“The clarinetist?” Yuri said, looking up with interest.Viktor stared at him.That was more polite than he had heard Yuri be in months.Were he and this Phichit character friends?

“Yep!” Phichit said with a cheerful smile.

“Do you two know each other?” Viktor asked slowly, looking between the two and trying to read the situation.He was so confused.How did his sixteen year old friend know a clarinetist who sounded like he was American, based on his accent?

Yuri gave Viktor a dramatic eye roll.“The musical community is big, Viktor, but not that big,” he said with no real venom in his voice.“If you actually pay attention, it’s not that difficult to be up to date on most of the bigger names.”

Phichit’s grin widened.“I also played in the orchestra for the American qualifier of the Junior World Prodigy competition, so I’ve seen you play,” he said, and Yuuri smiled softly up at his friend.

Yuri grumbled something under his breath, too quietly for Viktor to hear, and then said to reluctantly Yuuri, “Your concert wasn’t awful, I suppose.I didn’t have to use the ear plugs I brought.”

Yuuri just smiled, but Viktor stared at him in horror.The teenager was _not_ helping him make a good impression.“Yu-ra,” Viktor reprimanded, stomping on Yuri’s toes.

Yuri hissed.“Say what you want to, and then I want to leave,” he snapped, but Viktor could tell he looked genuinely offended.“Grandfather made extra pirozhki for you, but if you don’t stay the night I can have it without him knowing.”

Viktor rolled his eyes.Yuri was being a little bit of a brat, and rude to Yuuri.“Charming, Yura.”He turned back to face Yuuri, and gave him a blinding smile, hoping he could be charming enough to distract them from Yuri’s angst.“You played a lovely concert, Mr. Katsuki,” he said.

“Yuuri,” Yuuri corrected with a small nod.“You can call me Yuuri.”

Viktor’s heart melted, and his smile softened.“Yuuri,” he repeated, tasting the name.It sounded different than what he called Yuri.He liked it better.“You play with such beauty and passion, Yuuri,” Viktor continued.“It amazes me.I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Yuuri stared at him like he had just told him pigs could fly, but Viktor kept smiling, unperturbed.

Phichit narrowed his eyes slightly, studying Viktor, and then said, “Yuuri had always been good at playing passionately.”

Viktor blinked in surprise, and then looked at the two of them a little closer.Phichit still had an arm curled protectively around Yuuri’s shoulders, even though Yuuri was a little taller, and Yuuri was leaning comfortably against him.  Maybe they were dating?Viktor didn’t quite understand the pang in his chest at that thought.Phichit met his eyes, and unobtrusively let his arm slide off Yuuri’s shoulders, although he still stayed pressed close.

Viktor realized that Yuuri was staring at him with soft, chocolate brown eyes, and said softly, “I really enjoyed your concert, Yuuri.”

“What happened to your hand?” Yuuri asked abruptly with a frown.

Viktor looked down, and realized he had absently been picking at the black velcro brace around his wrist.The smile slid off Viktor’s face as his stomach lurched, and it took him a moment to plaster a fake one on again.“It’s a funny story, actually,” he said in a small voice.Maybe if he played it off as a joke, they wouldn’t ask too many more questions.Viktor’s pride was already bruised, and somehow pity about the injury that made him pause in his career would just make the pain worse.“You see, there was a burglar, and I had to hang off the side of a moving train to stop him from stealing a very valuable diamond necklace-”

“He hyperextended his pinky,” Yuri interrupted scornfully, throwing Viktor a look.He didn’t seem impressed.“And then, like a fucking idiot, decided to keep playing on it and sprained his wrist as well.”

“That’s awful!” Yuuri exclaimed, eyes widening.“How long do you have util you can play again?”

Viktor gave up on trying to maintain his fake smile.“A few months,” he mumbled, for some reason feeling incredibly embarrassed.Yuuri visibly flinched, and that strengthened his resolve.Viktor didn’t want to seem weak in front of a musician he admired for his strength.

He straightened his shoulders, forced a smile, and said cheerfully, “Anyways, I was wondering if you’d like to get a drink with me.”Yuri muttered something insulting under his breath, which Viktor just decided to ignore.“I’d love to talk to you in more depth,” he continued.

Yuuri blinked, looking surprised, and then said slowly, “I… Uh, sure.”

Phichit frowned.“Are you sure, Yuuri?” he asked, with a note of worry in his voice.

Yuuri nodded cooly.“Yeah.”

Yuri eyes Viktor critically, and Viktor couldn’t help but blush a little.Yuri’s face screwed up in disgust, and he said, “I’m going back to Grandfather’s, and I’m eating your pirozhki.”Viktor blinked, but Yuri didn’t wait for him to say anything.“I suppose you can stay the night, but if you get wasted I’m not cleaning your puke out of the carpet.”

Viktor smiled.That was Yuri’s unique way of offering him a place to stay the night and to be careful.Even though Yuri didn’t like to admit it, he _did_ care.“Do you want me to call a cab for you?” Viktor asked, because he cared about Yuri too.The younger Russian was like the little brother Viktor had never had.

“I’m sixteen, I can call a fucking cab by myself,” Yuri snapped without much venom.“And if you wake up my grandfather when you come in at two in the morning, I’ll fucking kill you, old man.”Viktor smiled slightly, translating. _I can go by myself, I’ll leave you alone with your new crush.Don’t stay out too late, I’ll probably wait up._

Yuri gave Viktor one last hard look before he spun around and strode down the hallway, hands stuffed in his pockets.Viktor couldn't help the fond smile that quirked his lips as he watched Yuri go, and then turned back to Yuuri and Phichit, who both looked vaguely horrified.

“Sorry about Yura,” Viktor said with a shrugNot everyone was used to the pure, concentrated saltiness that was Yuri Plisetsky, and it was hard to see underneath the surly exterior unless he let you in.To Yuuri and Phichit, it probably just seemed like Yuri was being incredibly rude.“I think he’s tired,” Viktor said, offering a flimsy explanation.

The unease slid off Phichit’s face, but Yuuri still looked mildly concerned.“We all had our angsty teenage days,” Phichit said with a smile.

Yuuri glanced up at him, surprise coloring his face.Viktor’s heart lifted a little, as much as he hated to admit it.Maybe they weren’t dating after all, if Yuuri didn’t know about Phichit’s childhood.

“You did?” Yuuri said with a laugh in his voice.

Phichit snickered.“Well, maybe my teenage years weren’t that angsty, but I definitely made my parents angsty with all the hamsters I had.I think I had twelve when I was sixteen.”Viktor gaped at him.

“You have a problem,” Yuuri said, voicing Viktor’s exact thoughts.

Phichit smiled.“See, that’s what my mom said,” he chirped, looking at Yuuri with a happy expression.

Viktor shifted awkwardly.He felt like he was invading a private moment.He didn’t _really_ know either of the other musicians, and he suddenly regretted letting Yuri leave so quickly.

Yuuri glanced at him, dark brown eyes kind, and said, “Uh, should we go?”

Viktor smiled gratefully.“Sounds good!”

“Yuuri and I should drop off his things at out hotel first,” Phichit said, giving Viktor a suspicious look.

Viktor put extra effort into maintaining his smile under Phichit’s suspicious glare.“Excellent,” he said, and then added pointedly, “I’ll walk with you.”

Phichit gave him another appraising look, but didn’t comment as Viktor fell into step with him and Yuuri.Viktor opened his mouth to ask something, but couldn’t find the right words to phrase it.He wanted to know more about Yuuri, about his music, but also what he was like as a person.Was it weird to ask questions like that?He didn’t even completely know why he wanted to get to know Yuuri, although if he was going to ask Yuuri to let him be his teacher, they would inevitably get to know each other.

They left the building and stopped at the curb.Viktor raised a hand to call a cab, as he was used to in Russian cities, and then asked, “What’s your hotel?”

Phichit gave him a judgmental look, and reluctantly told him the name.A cab pulled up to the curb, and the driver rolled down the window and eyed them balefully.

“We’d like a ride to their hotel,” Viktor said in Russian, and then repeated the name.

The driver made a scornful noise.“That will be two thousand rubles.”

Viktor smiled sweetly.“How stupid do you think I am?” he said.“Five hundred.”

The driver squinted at him, and then said, “Wait, are you that musician?Viktor Nikiforov?”

“I am, yes,” Viktor said happily.

The driver sighed deeply, but jerked his chin.“Get in.”

Viktor turned back to Yuuri and phichit, who were watching apprehensively.“Go ahead,” he said, opening in the back door for them.Yuuri and Phichit glanced at each other, and then climbed in the back of the car.Viktor squeezed in next to them, settling himself next to Yuuri as the car pulled away.He definitely didn’t notice that Yuuri’s thigh was pressed to his in the small backseat of the car.

“What’s someone like you doing with foreigners?” the cab driver asked in Russian, making eye contact with Viktor in the mirror.

Viktor chuckled.“They’re musicians as well,” he replied.“And very talented ones at that.”Viktor had never heard Phichit play, but he assumed that he was reasonably talented if Yuri had heard of him.

The driver looked doubtful, but before he could say anything, Yuuri suddenly blurted, “Viktor, how much is it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Viktor said calmly as Yuuri scrabbled for his wallet, eyes wide.It wasn’t like Viktor didn’t have enough money.

The cab pulled up in front of their hotel, and Viktor didn’t pay attention as Yuuri tried to promise reimbursement.He would feel guilty taking money from the Japanese man.Once they were out of the cab, Viktor handed the driver the proper amount of money and wished him a goos nightbefore he peeled away.

“Let’s go, shall we?” Viktor said, turning to Yuuri and Phichit with a dazzling smile, and then walked into the hotel, Phichit and Yuuri trailing behind.Viktor recognized the hotel- he had stayed there once when he was playing two concerts in a weekend and hadn’t been able to stay with Yuri- and started to tell Phichit and Yuuri about his time there.He talked mostly to fill the awkward silence, and push away the growing anxiety that Yuuri didn’t actually want him around.

Phichit nodded as Viktor talked, but always kept a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder or forearm, even as they got in the elevator and rode up to the correct floor.Phichit beckoned them out of the elevator, hand still on Yuuri’s arm, and led them to one of the hotel room doors.He opened it, and led them inside.Viktor looked around with interest, noting the neatly made beds and the suitcases on the floor by the wall.

Yuuri immediately put his viola case into the closet and hid it behind his duffel bag before closing the closet door.Viktor smiled slightly.He could understand being afraid of having an instrument stolen.

“I need to get changed,” Phichit said, casually loosening his collar.Viktor turned to Yuuri with a smile, but the other man didn’t seem to notice as he followed Phichit into the bathroom.The smile dropped off Viktor’s face as the bathroom door closed with a soft click, and his shoulders slumped.He was being stupid.Of course, Yuuri would probably feel uncomfortable staying with a strange man in his hotel room.He would obviously much rather stay with his friend, who he may or may not be dating, who he may or may not want to watch change… 

Viktor pushed that thought away with a deep sigh, and faced the window.Soft conversation hummed behind the closed bathroom door, and Viktor thought he caught his name once or twice, be he ignored it in favor of staring out the window and trying to figure out his own feelings.

There was no denying that Katsuki Yuuri was attractive.Anyone could see that.Viktor was well-aware of his own sexuality, well-aware of his interest in men, especially men as handsome as Yuuri, but that didn’t explain the way he was feeling.Viktor was normally good at handling himself around attractive people, so why did he feel so tongue-tied when Yuuri was around?Why did he feel nervous, like his stomach flipped happily when Yuuri smiled at him, weightless when Yuuri laughed, happy when Yuuri talked to him or even looked at him?Was this what they called a crush?

Viktor hadn’t had a crush in years, and he was blindsided.He normally would have written off his feelings as physical attraction to a very handsome individual, but that didn’t explain why Viktor wanted to hug him and hold his hand and get to know him better.He shouldn’t be feeling this way after only just having met Yuuri.He only wanted to get to know Yuuri because he wanted to be his teacher and help him win the ICC.Right?

Behind Viktor, the bathroom door opened and Phichit and Yuuri exited.Phichit was now dressed in a more casual sweater and jeans, smiling at something he had said.

“Ready?” Viktor asked, and his gaze slid to Yuuri.Viktor’s breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of the Japanese man.  Yuuri was wearing the same green sweater and jeans as before, but now his hair was allowed to flop over his forehead rather than sit slicked back and elegant, and he wore blue-framed glasses with thick lenses that magnified his deep brown eyes.In other words, he was absolutely adorable, and Viktor had no words.

“I didn’t know you wear glasses,” he managed to squeak.

Yuuri ducked his head and slid his glasses up his nose with a finger, smiling shyly.Viktor’s heart melted.

“Um… yeah,” Yuuri murmured, sounding almost embarrassed.

“That’s adorable,” Viktor blurted as the filter between his brain and his mouth decided to go on vacation.A cute blush stained Yuuri’s cheeks, and he blinked behind his glasses, brown eyes wide.

Phichit glanced at Viktor, and smirked.Viktor suddenly knew without a doubt that Phichit was on to him, that Phichit totally knew about Viktor’s crush.Phichit opened his mouth to say something, and Viktor’s stomach plummeted.He was about to be exposed.

“I’m ready to get wasted,” was all Phichit said, depositing his suit in his suitcase.

Yuuri rolled his eyes, still a little flushed.“You’re not getting wasted, Phichit.”

Phichit laughed, draping himself over Yuuri.“What, you don’t want to have to drag my drunk ass up ten flights of stairs?”

Yuuri smiled happily back at his friend.“I’d just leave you to sleep on a couch in the lobby,” he replied.

“Oh!Betrayal!” Phichit cried dramatically, and Viktor couldn't help but agree, although his betrayal was of a different kind.Phichit had definitely figured out that he had a crush on Yuuri, and he was still being very familiar with Yuuri.Not that Viktor had any claim to Yuuri whatsoever.

“Do you know anywhere we can go?” Phichit asked Viktor.

Viktor shook himself from his reverie and nodded.“It’s not far.We can walk.” 

He waited with his hands in his pockets as Yuuri put the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of the door and Phichit locked it.The walk to the bar was quiet and awkward.Viktor was deep in thought.He had no justification to feel jealous of the way Phichit and Yuuri interacted.For all he knew, they really _were_ dating, which would mean that Viktor would have to push away and ignore his newfound feelings.Despite what the tabloids claimed, Viktor wasn’t a homewreaker or a boyfriend stealer.If Phichit and Yuuri were together, Viktor had no right to break them up.

And then he noticed that while Phichit smiled at Yuuri, Yuuri kept looking at Viktor and then blushing and quickly looking away.Viktor relaxed a little as his heart lifted.Maybe there was hope after all.

They reached the bar without any trouble, and although Yuuri asked a few questions, Viktor wouldn’t answer anything until they were seated with drinks in hand.Viktor nervously traced his finger around the rim of his glass of vodka, but didn't drink yet.He wanted to stay reasonably sober, at least for this part of the conversation.

“Yuuri,” he said nervously, and his heart leapt when Yuuri blushed a little.Viktor took a deep breath, and then said, “As I mentioned earlier, the injuries in my left hand and wrist prevent me from playing for several months.It’s likely I won’t be able to play the violin in a concert for at least a year.”

“That's too bad,” Phichit said, taking a sip of his beer and leaning back in his chair.He eyed Viktor, but seemed a little friendlier than when they had first met, and Viktor couldn’t detect and obvious hostility in his words.

Viktor bit the inside of his cheek, and then leaned forward.Yuuri didn’t make eye contact, trailing a finger through the condensation on his bottle of beer.“My mentor, Yakov, suggested I take on a student during my hiatus to keep up my own skills,” Viktor said nervously.“Yuuri, your passion is incredible, you are enthralling onstage.But there are some technical elements of your performance, as well as some performance aspects, that could be improved with help.I believe I could offer you that help.”

Yuuri looked up sharply.“What are you saying?”

Viktor offered him a small, nervous smile, barely breathing.“I’d like to be your teacher, for a year,” he said.“In about ten month’s time, the finals of the International Concerto Competition will be held in Barcelona, Spain.I think you should enter into the competition.”

Yuuri looked like he wanted to protest, but before he could say anything Viktor made a promise he desperately hoped he could keep.“And with my help, you’re going to win.”

**Author's Note:**

> And so starts Phichit's long and successful career as a matchmaker, even if Viktor and Yuuri don't know it yet...
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, feel free to comment/ask questions ir you have any or talk to me [here](https://iwritebetterthanispeak.tumblr.com/), and have a wonderful day, dear reader!


End file.
